Wake Up
by ExecutiveNerd
Summary: Continuation of The Long Sleep: Archer wakes up to the two most beautiful sights.


"And the Prince lived happily ever after." The words had been bouncing around Archer's head for, well he wasn't sure, time was weird. He had no idea what the words could possibly mean, maybe he had had one too many drinks, but he knew the words made him happy in a way he couldn't describe.

He made his way to the closest bar, he needed a drink. He was no longer sure where he was, but was thankful that every place had a bar. He had bounced around from the 40s to an island to space to medieval times. He had no idea what was going on, but it was obvious that all of time and space was only filled with the people he worked with. The bar was like any bar ever: dark, crowded and with a beautiful woman behind the bar. "Bourbon," he said, flashing his most charming smile to the woman.

"Say goodnight," She told him with a sweet smile when she returned with his drinks. Her words like honey, sweet and soothing.

"Goodnight?" Archer repeated, grabbing for his drink.

"Yeah, are you having a goodnight?" She repeated, the sweetness in her voice fading slightly.

"I guess," He said downing the drink, "It would be better if I had another drink and some company," he told her leaning over the counter so his face was close to hers.

"Well, at least one of those can be achieved, we will have to see about the other,"

A few hours later, a drunk, stumbling, tangled mess of people slammed into the door of Archer's room. The bartender, Lana she had told him, had been hard to get at first, but once the relief bartender showed up, she had been putty in his hand. "Archer," she moaned into his lips, her fingers already teasing the hem of his trousers.

He dug around in his pockets for his key, and tried his best to unlock the door without untangling himself from Lana. Once the door was opened and was no longer there to support them, they hit the ground. It didn't slow them down much though, they made quick work of their clothes, and never even made it to the bed, at least for round one.

 ****The only thing he was truly aware of was the fact that everything was sore, he felt like he hadn't moved in years. The second thing that hit him was the sterile smell of his surroundings, nothing like the smell of sex and liquor that he swore he fell asleep to. He played with moving his fingers, relieved when they moved, and tried to take stock of his senses. He could smell the chemicals around him, he could hear the blinking of machines and he could feel the coarse material that was over him. He managed to open his eyes, and was thankful that room was dark, he didn't know if he could handle light yet.

He looked over at the machines showing his vitals on the small screens. In the light of the screens was a person slouched over a chair beside his bed, a wonderful, beautiful person. Memories started to flood his brain, breaks, actresses, bodyguard, cyborgs, and three gunshots, "Lana," He whispered, coughing a little bit, his throat no longer use to talking, "Lana," he managed a little louder. She shifted a little bit, but otherwise stayed asleep. "Lana!" Still nothing. He managed to prop himself up on his elbows and prepared himself, "LAANNNAA!" that got her. She jumped up, almost tipping herself and the chair over.

"What Archer?" she snapped without thinking, it was music to his ears, realization slowly came to her, and in a matter of moments she had flung herself at him. "Archer...?" she said hesitantly this time. She clung to him like she would fall into lava if she let go, "Please tell me this is real," she asked desperately.

"I think it's real," He told her honestly with a shrug. She removed her head from his shoulder and tangled one of her hands in his hair, and pulled him into a bone shattering kiss. She hated being vulnerable, but she had almost let Archer die without them working out their issues, and she wasn't going to let that happen again. Archer pulled her away after a few moments. She looked almost hurt, as if she thought he was rejecting her so he grabbed her free hand and intertwined it with his, "Lana, before anything happens, I have to tell you something."

"What?" Lana asked him, tears welling up in her eyes. Archer started to say something and fell back into the bed dramatically, going still. Lana waited for a moment, holding her breath, before she yelled his name, collapsing against his chest in a fit of sobs. She didn't have time to cry for long, before Archer took a deep dramatic breath, "You jackass," she growled, punching his chest, tears still streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry, I may never be in a coma again. I had to take advantage of it," Archer said grinning, but Lana hadn't stopped punching his chest. Archer grabbed one of her wrists to stop the beating and pressed a quick kiss to it, "Lana, come on I'm sorry. I really do have to tell you something.

Lana stopped punching him, but snatched her wrist away from his, crossing her arms over her chest, "Well..?"

He smiled at her, a big goofy grin, "Lana Kane, I love you. I am so glad you are the one that was here when I woke up," he told her placing a hand on her cheek, despite her trying to be grumpy, she couldn't help but smile. She leaned back down to kiss him.

"I love you too, Sterling Archer, despite my better judgement," she answered resting her forehead on his, "And I am glad we were here when you woke up as well. Your mother is going to murder us," she laughed

Archer raised an eyebrow at the we, and just as he was about to ask who the we was, a small little voice came from the other side of the bed, "What's all of the noise for, Momma?" Archer looked over to see AJ curled up in the chair, a pillow between her head and the armrest, her hair a curly mess. She was beautiful.

"Abbiejean?" Archer asked quietly looking at the little girl.

"Daddy?" AJ asked sitting up in her seat, clutching her teddy bear to her chest. Archer shoved Lana slightly to make room, all eyes on AJ, normally she would have been annoyed, but she couldn't be mad at him for wanting to see his daughter, and rolled to his side. Archer motioned for her to join them, and she crawled onto the bed. Archer pulled her into a hug, holding her so tightly, not wanting to lose her. He realized how much time he had already lost. She had to be 5, if not almost 6 by the size of her. Though she was Lana's daughter so she could could be younger.

"Are you going to stay awake from now on?" AJ asked pulling away to look him in the eye, her expression serious.

I can't promise I won't fall asleep, but I will do my best to keep waking up. Alright?" Archer told her, pushing a chunk of curls behind her ear.

"Okay. I guess that's fine," she told him, and he bent over to press a kiss onto her forehead, than booped her little nose, causing her to start giggling, and she hugged him again.

"I am glad you are back," Lana told him resting her head on his shoulder.

"You're happy for now," he told her with a grin, resting his head on top of AJ's, happy to be back with his girls.

"You're probably right," She smiled back.

Lana and AJ fell back asleep pretty quickly, Lana stretched out beside him and AJ curled up under his arms on the other side. Now that he was alone with his thoughts he was able to really take in the situation. AJ was beautiful, thankfully more her mother than him, and he couldn't wait to get to re-know her, to know the kid that she had become vs the toddler he remembered, and of course Lana was exactly as he remember her, perfect as always.

He looked around the room, and finally noticed the things that didn't have anything to do with the two loves of his life. He saw a few framed pictures scattered across the bedside table, along with dozens of drawings from AJ, he couldn't wait to go through them all. The photos were a mix of old ones and new ones, the one of AJ and him, all of her school photos, a recent photo of Lana and AJ, and last and least there was a photo of the gang. He examined the differences in all of them, and outside of different lengths of hair and a few more signs of agings, especially Cyril, they all looked pretty much the same, which was an almost comforting fact. He was sure they acted the same as well.

Archer was sitting up in bed, when Malory showed up. Lana had moved herself to the chair, a hand always in some sort of contact with Archer as if he would disappear if she stopped touching hin. AJ was still curled up at his side. As soon as she had woken up in the morning, Archer assaulted her with a million questions trying to get caught up as quickly as possible, AJ was thrilled.

Malory of course had been furious when she walked through the door. They had never gotten around to calling her, so she had no clue that she would come in to see him awake. She had yelled at them all saying she should have been the first one to see him, and should have been contacted immediately. After she was done with her lecture she got super gushy for about three minutes, giving Archer his like fourth hug from his mother ever, going on and on about how glad she was that he wasn't dead, and that she was glad she wouldn't have to pay for the hospital bill anymore.

"And the Prince lived happily ever after," AJ read proudly, finishing the book that she had been reading Archer. She had been practicing reading it to him for weeks, with Lana's help. Lana was trying to make sure that she was actually reading the book instead of just memorizing it.

"That sounds familiar," Archer said, his eyebrows knitting together.

"The ending of the book sounds familiar?" Lana asked him, confused.

"Well I have been reading it to you!" AJ told him proudly, and a light bulb went off in his head.

"I remember! I couldn't get the phrase out of my head, shortly before waking up," Archer said, "You must've pulled me out it," he added, ruffling up AJ's hair.

"Really?" AJ asked perking up.

"Yeah kiddo, I think so," he told her, planting a kiss on the top of her head, "Are you crying?" He asked looking over at Lana, who was obviously tearing up.

"Of course she is," Malory said, taking a huge swig of the drink in her hand, reminding Archer that she was even there.

"No," Lana lied, wiping her eyes. Archer raised an eyebrow at her obvious lie. "Honestly, she has put so much into trying to wake you up, and making sure that she still came regularly in case you could hear her, and I am not going to lie. I was afraid you were going to disappoint her."

Archer frowned, looking down at his daughter who was only half paying attention, "I want to say I am hurt, but I deserve that. I may be horrible at literally everything, but I feel like I am at least okay at his."

"You are," Lana agreed.

"And you did a pretty great job with her in my absence," he said slightly louder, bumping AJ's shoulder with his. She gave him a big cheesy grin, and Malory rolled her eyes.

"I know," Lana agreed.

"Now AJ, I need you to show me all of your drawings," He said reaching for the stack of papers.

"Okay!" She said grabbing the stack from him so she could show them to him.


End file.
